Police uproot protest camp in Moscow

Russian youth opposition protesters gather near the monument of Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbaev, top right, in the opposition camp at the Chistiye Prudy, or Clean Ponds, where they vowed to continue the roving protest in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 15, 2012. There are no posters, no tents, no insistent drummers, and no looming police, but the small throng in one of Moscow's most sylvan parks is a remarkable protest gathering all the same.Since the middle of last week, opposition activists have tested authorities and themselves by maintaining an around-the-clock presence in a corner of the park that runs down the middle of Chistoprudny Boulevard, near the pond that gives the street its name.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
— AP

Russian youth opposition protesters gather near the monument of Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbaev, top right, in the opposition camp at the Chistiye Prudy, or Clean Ponds, where they vowed to continue the roving protest in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 15, 2012. There are no posters, no tents, no insistent drummers, and no looming police, but the small throng in one of Moscow's most sylvan parks is a remarkable protest gathering all the same.Since the middle of last week, opposition activists have tested authorities and themselves by maintaining an around-the-clock presence in a corner of the park that runs down the middle of Chistoprudny Boulevard, near the pond that gives the street its name.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
/ AP

"Go ahead, arrest deputies, put us behind bars, that will only speed up your demise," Gennady Gudkov, a KGB veteran turned fierce Putin critic, said during debates in the lower house. "Instead of political reforms, they want to only rely on force, but violence foments violence."

His son, Dmitry, tweeted Wednesday that the Kremlin party apparently is preparing to initiate a bill that would introduce a five-year prison term for organizers of the rallies that end in violence.

As part of the official pressure on the Gudkovs, a private security agency they own was targeted by authorities that found some violations and ordered it stripped it of its arms.

In another move to tame the opposition, Putin's loyalists are also working on legislation that would raise the level of fines from the current maximum 5,000 rubles ($166) to 1,500,000 rubles (about $50,000).

The rising official pressure comes as the opposition is desperately trying to maintain momentum amid the feeling of exasperation and gloom that followed Putin's inauguration. Some activists believe massive rallies are essential for shaking Putin's power, but others argue that the opposition must focus instead on grassroots activism and municipal elections, hoping they would help gradually make Russia a more open and pluralistic society.

Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of the liberal Yabloko party, has warned the protest leaders against provoking police.

"If the organizers believe that the riot police cruelty will multiply the number of people eager to fight them, it's a wrong calculation," he wrote on his blog. "People will simply stop attending rallies and marches if blood is shed there, if they are beaten."